Max, The Maxter Magician
by Kale Bishop
Summary: A prodigy of the art of sorcery, Max travels the land of Runeterra as a stage magician after being orphaned. He seeks any form of magic he could, from the brightest magic in the Demacian Mage Academy, to the darkest magic of the Black Rose. If there was any price to give to bring his parents back, he would give it up, even his magic.
**Max, The maxter magician**

Despite Yordles having a natural ability to control magic, very few are representatives to the immense practice of sorcery. Humans would not find this surprising as rumors would circulate that the old rune wars traumatized the innocent creatures into fearing that the power itself can corrupt. Another factor could be their immense need to interact socially and, knowing that magic could potentially destroy fellow yordles, shut it completely out of their lives. There are some however, look in wonder at what magic can actually can do, to the point that they exercise its fullest extent until their spirits fatigued them to sleep. Along with famous practitioners such as Lulu and Veigar, one of them was Max.

Before Max could even utter a single word or an incantation, sparks already emanated from his palms every time he opened and closed them. It often caught the curiosities of the other cubs, but it would also often scare the caretaker of the daycare center. There were some incidents that would define why. The legend of the furless yordle stated that a demonic infant was given to the care of an unfortunate caretaker and his firebreath scorched his entire body in flames that he ran for the fountain in town square to save his own life. By the time he emerged, he was completely pinkish, and naked. Every soul in the Yordle land laughed, humiliating the yordle to insanity and provoking him to jump off a cliff. Several months later, it is said that he returned to the daycare for revenge and evidence pointing this were the cubs flying around in circles. One night at the stroke of midnight, clanging and banging could be heard from the kitchen downstairs from where the caretaker's bedroom was. Upon reaching the floor of the steps, he saw the shadowy sillhouette of tentacles on the moonlight beaming from the doorway immediately to the right. It managed to chop off a little rat in front of him with a single knife throw. The fearful caretaker ran back to bed thinking it was only a nightmare. The next morning at the top of the same stairs, he found himself staring at a black magician's hat sitting on top of the spot where the corpse of the rat laid above its pool of blood beneath the knife that delivered its death sentence. When he pulled the hat out, the excalibur-like knife stood there piercing the floor, but no sign of a rodent corpse was found. He even shrieked as he saw the same rat skitter out of the kitchen to a rathole on the wall. The only person to ever know the real tale behind it was the now caretaker of the daycare, as he knew who that white rat was. The white one with black cat-like ears who always sat in the center of the indoor playground mat waving his hands, opening and closing them, innocently performing some of the most dangerous tricks to fellow cubs that just giggled and cried.

Whenever the little cub Rumble would visit the daycare center on the way to school to drop off his 1 year old brother, the caretaker would often shut the door turning the open sign to closed, and locking it. He would even barricade the door to prevent the persistent Rumble from coming in. The only times he took him in was when he felt sorry for the blue yordle, despite knowing that he would regret that day.

But his parents loved him no matter what the caretaker said, and always found his prodigal talent for magic astonishing. They enjoyed the extra fun-filled feeding times which often earned his father a peek-a-boo from Max. He would be popping out from the kitchen drawer, the newspaper, and even Rumble's favorite breakfast cereal. Almost every night Max would enthusiastically and gleefully pull his entire family to the living room and watch him donn his black silk hat and mini-tuxedo given to him by his mother

and then, with his cheek-to-cheek million dollar smile, perform his magic show for the night. The only one in the audience whom he failed to please however, was Rumble.

Oblivious to Max, Rumble envied the amount of attention and talent that he had, ever since he was old enough for daycare. Every time he made another invention to show he would always be outshined by him, and it has happened in countless occasions in school, in public, and most especally at home. He most especially hated it when it fell onto his responsibility as an older brother to watch over max while their parents were away. They thought that it would be perfectly fine, but while they were away Max would often feel lonely and shut out because Rumble kept quarreling with him.

Despite this however, Max didn't give up. He had a dream that one day his relationship with Rumble would improve, and he'd be the proudest amongst everyone for his craft. Definitely, persistence and eagerness was one of his traits. Every morning, Rumble would wake up shocked and irritated to the sounds of firecrackers that would fill his bedroom, along with a spritely good morning from Max popping out from his hat on his bed. He would walk to school with Rumble once he was 5, asking him to hold his hand often, even if he's refused time and time again. They'd pass by the daycare center to wave and at the caretaker, but he would shut the door every time. Whenever he witnesses other yordles pick on Rumble, he would often use his magic to levitate their underwears to the tree branches, but his older brother viewed it as a mockery, as an exploit to one of his weaknesses of being the wimpy kid in school.

Then the day finally arrived, they'd be separated. Rumble eagerly decided to stay at home alone to watch over the house while Max accompanied his parents to Ionia for the Blood Moon festival. Reluctant their parents were, they agreed and embarked on the earliest ship departing, waving goodbye to Rumble and his partner in crime Ziggs waving back on the harbour.

While waiting for the ship to arrive, Max volunteered to showcase his talent to the fellow yordles onboard. Immediately after the first trick, a simple pick a card trick from a stack of cards, the audience was astonished and wanted more. Magical hats spread out on the stage and Max would always pop out from a different hat. Whenever they would guess right, though, treasures and prizes always awaited them. The night went on and on with his parents tearfully watching in the audience a proud spectacle of their son. But that night, the yordles were not the only audience Max had thought would be. Upon finishing his final trick of raining cupcakes from his floating hat, a great red flare erupted from The Dead Pool that emerged from the dark waters. Cannons barraged the ship, scattering the yordles everywhere, some even jumping overboard to the dark depths. Pirates boarded the yordle ship, ransacked every gift they had, killed bandle gunners and mothership scouts, and kidnapped innocent yordles. Max and his family were lucky to be captives. The rest were left for dead as shark bait.

The next morning upon docking Bilgewater, every yordle was set to do the dirty work of the pirates. Some were sent to carving out barnacles from the bottom of the Dead Pool, while some were sent to mop up the slaughter docks. Doing such though have plunged the yordles into isolation. Though the pirates looked at the yordles at pity and with guilt, Gangplank threatened to shoot any soul who would dare help his slaves out. Four months have passed, and Max had not performed since out of fear. He'd seen familiar faces die at either being chopped up by the wharf rats and sharks or being hanged by the neck sagged on a hook; it was either under Gangplank's orders for screwing up at a job or the yordles did it themselves out of misery. Such sights would've traumatized a young yordle such as him to depression, but he was determined to get his family out. But breaking out was not an option for him, he said that he might get Gangplank angry, and vowed that he would never use magic to do such methods. The other yordles called him a coward because of this, isolating him further from the society of his kin. The only yordles he could look towards were his parents.

One night in the dock by the Dead Pool, after a hard day's work of scraping barnacles, his father asked Max to do a magic trick for him, just this once.

"Dad, I dunno. Is it allowed?"

"Come on son! Just make your papa proud! They won't even notice a thing!"

"Just this once max! Just this once." His mother begged quietly.

His silk hat and suit were already torn and worn out, unfitting for any stage performance. Still, after vowing to perform only one trick, he did it by pulling out his black wand from his sleeve and waved it once on the top side of his hat. Immediately, the hat patched up its holes and shined itself. His parents cried and applauded, and it was enough for Max to have goosebumps beneath his fur. He smiled, like he always did back at home, the old classic cheek to cheek million dollar smile, and craved to perform more tricks. Next, with a whip of his wand, he fixed up his tuxedo and spread his arms up in the air after performing the trick, earning another applause. A wharf rat wandered into the three and Max immediately caught it on the floor with his hat.

"Abracamax!"

A quiet bright bang erupted from the hat. His parents looked closer in curiosity.

"Behold!"

Max pulled out the hat like a grand performer. Instead of a struggling wharf rat that was there, it was a cupcake with a cherry on top. It earned him a large applause not only from his parents, but from the other surviving yordles that noticed him. Every one of them smiled, a look he had not seen in months. With a tear in his eye, he performed his final trick by gulping the cupcake whole, without chewing it. The shocked audience watched him twirl his sparking wand at his stomach and keep his mouth wide open while facing the air. Slowly, his throat was sparking and glowing like a lit up firework. Firecrackers bounced from his mouth to the floor around him and a red firework shot up to the night sky, exploding in the same color of the cupcake he ate earlier. This time however, the audience did not applaud, but looked in fear. The captain of the Dead Pool, Gangplank, was there behind him.

"Did you turn that cupcake into a firework?"

"Y-yes sir."

Gangplank combed his beard with his hand in wonder. He pulled out an orange from his pocket and handed it to the white yordle.

"You think you can... turn this into a pistol for me?"

Confused, The yordle took the orange. "Uh, sure thing!"

He placed the orange on the hat and placed the hat on his head. After waving his wand, he takes off his hat and bows, leaving a pistol on top of his head. Gangplank grabs the pistol and shoots the two yordles behind him. Max watched in horror as his mother and father slowly fell to the ground.

"Throw em. Let em sleep with the fishes."

"No! No!"

Max waved his wand and sent Gangplank flying back to his ship. Max carried his the heads of his parents with his hands, desperately shaking them to wake up, but they were already dead.

"Slaughter them! Slaughter them all!" Yelled Gangplank.

Every yordle ran for their life as Gangplank's Jagged Hooks charged down the ship with guns and swords. One of them grabbed Max by his collar and was about to slash yordle's neck with his sword, only to be saved by a green hook that caught the pirate's neck. The pirate dropped the yordle as he was pulled by a spectral black wraith to the ocean.

"Run for your lives! It's the harrowing!" A pirate yelled.

The bell of the harrowing dinged, alarming everyone in Bilgewater of the black mist that was in the harbor. Spectral wraiths approached the corpses of his parents and ripped their souls away from them. Max needed to act fast, or else he'll be next. He needed to get out of Bilgewater. Despite the ocean rumored to be filled with sharks, Max jumped to the water and into his hat letting the ocean decide where he would wash up.

Eventually he ended up in Ionia, tired and very hungry. Kennen, a member of the Kinkou order, took him in and nursed him back to health. Though hospitable they were and pleasing it was to find a fellow yordle, he ran away after stealing a few magic scrolls. He began to read them, study them as quickly as possible, but they didn't provide any answer he was looking for. There had to be a way to bring back his parents. He consorted Elders of Ionia, the Celestials and even the Order of Shadows. When none in Ionia could provide the answers, he traveled back to the main island. While travelling, he posed as a stage performer in order to earn a living. It earned him easy access to every city because everyone knew his name. His intentions of visiting though, remained secret. He visited the Black Rose, Lissandra the Ice Witch, the Shuriman empire, the Demacian mage academy, etc. Basically anywhere where there was an ounce magic that he could learn he visited, but still none of them could provide. But it did not stop him from scowering the world for answers. Beneath the cheeky million dollar smile he always bore on his face laid a desperate yordle looking for answers. If there was any price he could give to bring them back, he'd pay it, even if it meant giving up his magic.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Prepare to be Maxified!"


End file.
